Bridges
by Shimy
Summary: 01 - Syndrome. Takes place at some point in the future. Just because I stumbled upon an article that lit up the figurative lightbulb. This first one-shot is pure fluff and fun but since this will probably turn into a collection of one-shots, other genres will be explored as well. Rated T for safety, but stories will probably range from K to T.


**Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you're all fine and had a good time watching episode 7x06! :-) Obviously, it made my own creative juices flow and I had a lot of fun writing this. It was supposed to be a really short story - maybe one page or two - and then it took on a life of its own and had me write about 5 pages more. The title "Bridges" is, I think, completely due to the fact that I was listening to the song "The Bridge - A Lover's Apology" (by the Brobdingnagian Bards - hope I spelled that right) when I started writing and it made me think about Caskett so there you go.**

**Also, bridges create connections. I think I'm going to use this as a collection of one-shots, so if you have requests (rating from K to T), please feel free to send me a private message - wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for other people - to tell me about them. However, be warned : I write when I feel like writing and when I've got the time for it and being a non-native speaker, writing in English takes more time than it would in French.**

**That being said, I really hope you enjoy your reading and if you have the time , hit that review button and let me know what you thought. Constructive criticism is always welcome. :-) **

**And I don't own _Castle_. Never did, never will, except for my DVDs.  
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><p><strong><span>BRIDGES<span>**

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><p><strong>01 - Syndrome ~ Takes place at some point in the future. Just because I stumbled upon an article that lit up the figurative lightbulb. Pure fluff and fun.<strong>

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><p>Kate was not awake yet, but she definitely was not sleeping soundly anymore either. Opening her heavy eyelids seemed an impossible task to accomplish and she unhappily frowned at whatever had disturbed the peaceful slumber she had fallen into a couple of hours ago. It was still the dead of night. In a familiar, almost instinctive gesture now, she turned round on herself to reach over to her husband's side and a most displeased – yet entirely heartfelt – groan made it past her lips when her hand could not find anything but stupid air and empty sheets.<p>

"Castle?" she sleepily slurred, but got no answer in return.

Since she could not put if off any longer, Kate slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the relative darkness of the room. Looking at the place where her husband should have been, she patted the mattress, feeling the still warm sheets beneath her fingers. Her brow furrowed - he could not have been gone for long, and the chances of him currently writing in his office were practically nonexistent since he had completed five chapters in a row the day before. Plus, she could not hear the familiar and comforting noise of his fingers flying over his keyboard, so a sudden bout of inspiration was certainly not to blame for Castle's lack of presence at her side.

And then she heard him through the unusually closed door of the en-suite bathroom.

_Oh, no. Not again._

Sleep now completely and utterly forgotten, she rose from the bed and made her way to the bathroom, opening the door with as little noise as she could manage. Sure enough, Castle was there, wearing nothing but his boxers and kneeling on the cold floor while he emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl. Fighting the urge to throw up herself when the horrid smell hit her nose, Kate forced herself to breathe through her mouth only while she walked over to her husband and crouched down to his level, setting one of her palms over his right shoulder-blade.

He startled a little bit and she mentally cursed herself.

"Kate. I didn't – he tried to speak but apparently his stomach had other plans and he once again retched. "Shit."

"Well, I'm no doctor but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't come from there" she quipped, hoping to lighten the situation, however awful the joke.

He let out what she supposed what the closest thing to a chuckle he could manage at the moment and that made her smile while she kept stroking his broad back in soothing motions, watching attentively as he closed his eyes for a moment in an attempt to calm himself down. He eventually nodded and rose up on slightly wobbly legs, walking over to the sink and mechanically reaching for his toothbrush and toothpaste. In the meantime, she flushed the toilet and sat down on the side of the tub, watching his face carefully in the mirror and pondering what she should say and _how_. She settled for blunt and truthful.

"Castle. This has to stop."

He groaned and gestured to his mouth full of toothpaste, indicating he could not reply but the slight roll of his eyes – and had he picked that particular habit from her? – did not escape her attention.

"No, I'm serious. You can't keep going on like this. You've been having severe headaches and stomach aches for almost three weeks now. Not to mention the eighteen times I've seen you throwing up in here and yes, I've been counting."

His blue eyes met hers in the mirror and he sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping before he bent over and rinsed his mouth. He otherwise made no response to her comment so she waited until he was done.

"Kate, we've been over this. I feel fine."

She could not help the way she scoffed. "Yeah, obviously."

Standing up again, she took deliberately slow steps towards him and, once she was close enough, snaked her arms around his bare waist and made him turn round so she could step into his embrace.

"Rick, please. We both know this isn't normal. You've got to make an appointment with your doctor and see what's wrong with you."

"But, Kate –

"No. Not buts. You say you feel fine but you clearly don't so stop claiming that you do."

"Look, how about we wait another couple of days and then –

But Castle never got to finish what he was about to suggest since his wife had risen on her toes and crashed her mouth to his for a searing kiss that made everything else appear decidedly dull and uninteresting. When they parted for air, Kate kept her hands on Castle's cheeks to make sure he was looking straight at her as she went for the final blow.

"No. I don't want to see you like this any longer, especially if I have no explanation for it. I love you and I'm worried about you."

He slightly flinched and she knew she'd won. _Gotcha_.

"That's – You know I can't resist you when you say these kind of things."

"Which is exactly why I'm saying them" Kate replied with an easy smile forming on her face.

"Not fair, Mrs. Castle. Not fair at all."

She grinned widely and pecked his lips once more. "All's fair in love and war, babe. Now tell me, what are you going to do?"

"Go back to sleep with my wife."

"Good, but not good enough."

"And call Doctor Harris in the morning to make an appointment."

"Excellent. Now come to bed with me. I wanna make out."

He laughed loudly as she gave him that cheeky smile he loved so much, the one where the tip of her tongue took a sneak peek between her teeth and made sure he would follow her wherever she went. Not that he needed the incentive anyway, but it certainly was an added bonus and who was he to complain about it?

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><p>He should have complained about it. He <em>definitely <em>should have complained about it.

He hated this. Would give anything to be anywhere but where he was. Sure, Doctor David Harris had become somewhat of a friend of his over the years they had known one another, but he still loathed it when he had to undress in front of him and have him palpate his body to search for whatever was wrong with him. It was not that it made him feel uncomfortable per se – well, maybe it did a little bit, because it certainly did not make him feel _comfortable_ – and he understood the medical need for it but he did not like it. Never had, never would.

Kate, however, had been quite glad when she'd found out, about two years ago, that his doctor was a man. That particular memory brought a cheerful smile onto his face and Doctor Harris immediately noticed it.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking about how _relieved_ my wife seemed to be when I told her you weren't a woman."

"Ah, I see" the doctor replied with a wry smile of his own. "Did she come here with you?"

"No. She's at home, though. She's just on call today so as long as there's no murder, she can stay with me."

Doctor Harris made a humming sound in reply as he kept applying precise pressure on different parts of Castle's lower chest to see whether his patient was feeling any pain in particular areas. Apparently, it wasn't the case. Out of habit, he still took his tensiometer and put it around Castle's arm, pumping with practiced ease.

"Alright, Rick. Your breathing, pulse and blood pressure are very good so whatever you're suffering from can't be too bad. When exactly did those headaches and stomach aches of yours start?"

"About three weeks ago."

"Have you changed anything about your eating habits recently?"

"No, not at all."

"And you say they can happen at any time of day or night?"

"Yeah. The headaches are worse, really. The stomach aches – they just come and go – like bad cramps, you know? And I'm sick of throwing up. "

"You've made better puns before."

Castle replayed his words in his head and only then realized the play on words he'd not even meant to do. "Geez, that was awful."

"Now you're being too hard on yourself. Anyway, I think we're all done here. Put your shirt back on and then we'll talk some more."

Castle did as he was told without asking any further questions while Doctor Harris sat down at his desk and began typing something on his computer. Once his task was completed, the writer took a seat of his own and waited patiently until the other man was ready. Doctor Harris quickly finished whatever he was typing and bent slightly over the dark wood of the desk, joining his hands together.

"I hope you understand that I don't mean to pry but has everything been fine with your wife?"

Castle's eyes widened with incomprehension. He clearly did not understand what this might have to do with any of his recent physical problems. "What do you mean?"

"Well, headaches and stomach aches can be a physical indication of some underlying psychological unease and/or issues. So I'm asking you again, has everything been fine with your wife?"

"Well…yeah. There's hasn't been any kind of trouble between us."

"Not even physically?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Sexually speaking, have you had any problems to, well, _satisfy_ her?"

Castle could not help the shriek of indignation he let out at that, almost wanting to punch Harris for what he'd been implying but then remembered the doctor was not judging him – besides, as far as he was concerned, he could _judge away_ – but merely trying to figure out what was going on with him. He relaxed his posture and let a rather proud grin stretch his lips.

"Nope. As a matter of fact, things have been…_especially_ good in that area."

Doctor Harris nodded and duly noted the emphasis the writer had used on the adverb. "Better than usual, then?"

Okay. Now Castle _really_ wanted to punch him.

"What?! No! It's always been…amazing between us. It's just become a more…frequent occurrence. Not that it wasn't before, I mean, but – _hormones_, you know?"

There was a moment of silence that followed Castle's statement, and in that moment understanding clearly dawned on the doctor's face. Still, he had to make sure.

"Are you saying that your wife is pregnant?"

The instant delight that painted itself on the writer's face upon hearing those words was all the confirmation Harris needed and he burst out laughing. Of course that would be it. Why hadn't he thought about it sooner? It made perfect sense. Castle, however, lost his smile and seemed a bit confused by his doctor's sudden hilarity. The latter took pity on him and smiled reassuringly.

"I think I know what's going on and to be honest, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yourself."

He paused for dramatic effect – it was nothing serious after all – and then dropped the figurative yet harmless bomb.

"Have you ever heard about what we call the Couvade Syndrome?"

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><p>As soon as she heard the sound of the key turning in the lock of the door, Kate forgot about her comfortable spot on the couch where she'd been re-reading <em>Heat Wave<em> for the past hour and a half – thank goodness for not having been called in yet – and jumped to her feet, making a beeline for the entrance of the loft. The door slowly opened and her husband walked over the threshold with none of his usual cheerfulness – a fact that made a brand new wave of nervousness crash ruthlessly against the shores of her heart.

"Hey, babe" she greeted him with a smile she was surprised she could manage. And when he didn't smile back at her, it disappeared. "Oh, God. Is it serious? What did Doctor Harris say?"

He didn't answer straight away, simply looked at her and took her hand in his own to lead her back to the couch where they sat down side by side while he seemed to ponder over the words he should use. He settled for blunt and truthful.

"He said it's because of you."

Kate gasped in silent horror, staring at him with fearful, worried eyes. It took her a little while for the weight of his words to settle and he waited in silence. She felt tears clogging up her throat but she still found the strength to whisper the question that was hammering her mind.

"What did I do? Castle, what did I do?"

"You didn't do anything."

"Castle, _please_. Just tell me. I'll do whatever it takes to make it better, I promise."

And then he stared at her and happy crinkles appeared at the corner of his eyes and his lips started to shake in mirth and he laughed – actually _laughed_ – and she suddenly understood he'd been playing her all along.

"You idiot! How could you do that? I was worried sick!"

She slapped him on his shoulder for good measure, which only served to increase his laughter and then she felt so relieved that whatever he was suffering from did not seem serious enough to worry him that she could not help but laugh along with him.

It took them a couple of minutes and several kisses to calm down. When they did, however, Kate scooted closer to sit on Castle's lap and wound her arms around his neck.

"So…What's really going on?"

He grinned again.

"What I said before was true. It _is_ because of you. However," he added as an afterthought while he settled one of his palms over her navel, "It's not because of you _alone._"

She glanced down at where his hand was and then back up at his eyes, ever so blue and filled with warmth and love.

"You mean…this has something to do with our baby?"

God, he loved the ease with which she referred to this little being as being theirs. Nodding his head in confirmation, his grin got impossibly wider.

"You've been suffering from typical pregnancy symptoms yourself. You know," he added, counting on his fingers to make his point clear by enumerating said symptoms, "morning sickness, stomach aches, headaches, back aches, mood swings, cravings –

"Geez, thanks for reminding me what I signed up for."

"Sorry."

"Apology accepted. Now, you were saying?"

"Well, what _I_ am suffering from is actually very similar to what _you_ are suffering from. Almost identical, actually. Doctor Harris called it the Couvade Syndrome a.k.a. 'sympathetic pregnancy'. Apparently, my subconscious is feeling so bad about you having to endure these downsides of pregnancy that it has decided to, uh, sign me up for the ride, so to speak."

It was Kate's turn to burst into laughter.

"Oh my God, Castle, that is so _cute_!"

"First time I've ever heard someone say that throwing up was cute."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do."

"Nuptial humor still, huh? You're such a sap."

"You love it."

"Yes, I do, Mr. Castle."

Kate was sure they were both grinning like loons and that if Esposito were to see them right now, he would fake gagging at the goo-goo eyes they were making at each other. She could not care less as her husband leaned in to kiss her again. When they separated, she was still chuckling at the idea that Castle was empathetic enough to make himself go through these effects of pregnancy with her. She also felt a stupid surge of pride and possessiveness when she realized this could not have happened with Meredith or he would have known what was going on.

The idea was pleasant enough to make her want to re-attach her lips with his, but then of course he had to speak.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"It's like I'm making it obvious that we share a strong mental connection!"

"Really, Castle? Are you picturing us as a couple of Na'vi right now?"

"Ooh, an _Avatar _reference. I approve. For the record, you'd look stunning in blue."

"I think I made that kind of remark some time ago when I suggested you mutating into Dr. Manhattan and you didn't seem so thrilled about it."

"I'll have you know that Na'vi are much sexier than Dr. Manhattan."

"Because they have queues?"

"No, because they can form _Tsaheylu_ with their queues and share a neural connection, feel every single thing their partner is feeling!"

"Hmm, I guess you're right. If we were Na'vi, it'd be nice to make _Tsaheylu _when I go into labor and share the pain with you."

The way her husband suddenly blanched made Kate howl with laughter at the expression on his face.

"What is it, Castle? I thought you wanted us to share everything?"

"I do! But unfortunately we're not Na'vi, so…"

She snorted again. "Lucky you."

"Hey, I think I just proved I was willing to suffer with you. Sympathetic pregnancy, remember?"

Kate shook her head but her smile never left her face. She never thought it would be possible to love him even more but he proved her wrong every single day.

"Alright, hot shot. I expect you to be right by my side on D-Day so I can break your hand. All twenty-seven bones."

"Mrs. Castle, you've got yourself a deal."


End file.
